Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association (AOPA) President and CEO Craig Fuller Wednesday praised a decision by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), to lift his hold on the nomination of Michael Huerta as administrator of the FAA, noting that the agency requires consistent leadership at a time of wide-ranging changes in the nation’s aviation system. “Michael Huerta […]
FAA
Beware the 3 Rs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pilots — as well as everyone else in the United States — can expect political turbulence over the next months and longer. In fact, what this lame-duck Congress can and will do in the weeks before the inauguration may give hints as to what the next four years will bring to general […]
Contract towers just as safe, but cost less
Air traffic control towers staffed by private contractors are cheaper and provide the same level of safety as towers staffed by government controllers, a new audit by the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General concludes. According to a report at CNN.com, contract towers cost on average $537,000 a year to operate, compared with $2 […]
GAO calls for GA to report flight hours, as well as data on recurrent training
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is calling for the FAA to start collecting flight hours for all general aviation aircraft, collect data on recurrent training, and set “specific safety improvement goals for individual industry segments using a data driven, risk management approach.” While the U.S. aviation system is one of the safest in the […]
The fizz on TIS
By JEFFREY BOCCACCIO. This is the 13th in a series of articles looking at the impact of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) on GA pilots. In my last post, ADS-B: Twice as nice, I spent a fair amount of time detailing the fact that there are two separate ADS-B systems in the U.S. […]
Pearson pilots upset by airspace changes
“That’s not going to work for us.” That’s the gist of the message pilots at Pearson Field Airport (VUO) in Vancouver, Wash., had for the FAA when they learned of the agency’s plan for procedural changes at the airport. Pearson Field, located just three miles of busy Portland International Airport (PDX), is a non-towered airport […]
FAA to ‘redefine aviation’
The FAA will make a variety of critical decisions regarding aviation-related issues over the next two to three years – decisions that will “define what aviation looks like in this country for the next 25, 30 or 40 years,” the FAA’s top official said Thursday at the Wichita Aero Club. FAA Acting Administrator Michael Huerta […]
Bringing the cost of flying down
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Manufacturers of general aviation airplanes, users of those airplanes, and the FAA are taking steps to reduce the costs, complexity, and time involved in certification in an effort to reduce prices and stem the decline in general aviation flying. Recently, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association held […]
FAA dedicates new tower at AVP
WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON, Pa. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta recently dedicated a new $20.5 million airport traffic control tower at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP). The 118-foot-tall tower gives controllers better airfield views and contains state-of-the-art equipment to support and enable future NextGen technologies. It replaces a 52-foot-tall tower built in […]